In the end, Li Zihan was unable to carry Mei to bed.
It couldn't be helped. Miss Mei was a very conservative girl.
With the suspected presence of a third person, her mind was naturally devoid of any romantic fantasies.
Like a French soldier in World War II, she instantly broke free from Li Zihan's embrace and hastily chose to retreat.
Even when Li Zihan told her he had already knocked Ling out, it wasn't enough to make her stay.
According to what Sirin said later, Mei had sprinted all the way back to her dormitory and locked herself inside.
One must remember that St. Freya Academy and Chaldeas were on the same island. For Miss Mei to run all the way back to St. Freya in such a short amount of time…
One could only imagine just how mortified she must have been.
Having failed to make Mei stay even after knocking Ling unconscious, Li Zihan could only move on to the next experiment.
The experiment concerning the Herrscher of Ice.
And then—
He entrusted Miss Ana with helping him repair his body, which had been eroded by the overuse of his Herrscher Cores.
I suppose Mei will be avoiding me for a while.
Li Zihan thought as he transferred a portion of the excess Honkai energy within his body to Ana, who was herself the Herrscher of Ice.
He could already picture it: for the foreseeable future, Miss Mei would be so shy that she would deliberately take detours just to avoid him.
"Director, you're not allowed to get distracted when you're on a date with a girl!"
Perhaps because he seemed unfocused, lost in thought about something else, the girl sitting beside the young man puffed up her cheeks and waved her slender fingers in front of his face.
The girl who extended her hand had long chestnut hair and lovely pink eyes.
Likely because her body was controlled by her human personality, the physical changes weren't as drastic as they were in the original story.
"My apologies."
The young man, who had indeed been spacing out, quickly snapped back to his senses as he looked at the fingers waving before him.
"What were you thinking about, Director?"
Perhaps due to her preferences, even after they had become intimate, Miss Ana still liked to address her lover by the title "Director."
Of course, on certain occasions, it would become "Perverted Director."
"I was thinking about what kind of wedding dress I should buy for you when we get married in the future, and what kind of jewelry would go with it."
With almost no hesitation, as if it were a conditioned reflex, the words slipped from the young man's mouth.
And then—
Like a lobster being boiled, the girl's face instantly flushed crimson.
If this were a manga, steam would surely be rising from the top of Ana's head like a whistling kettle.
"D-Director, what are you saying?"
The girl's voice, her pink eyes practically spinning into swirls, suddenly became a stuttering mess.
For a pure-hearted young maiden experiencing her first love, hearing the person she adored suddenly mention wedding preparations…
The stimulus… was a bit much.
"Is it strange to think about these things?"
The young man raised an eyebrow, then reached out, took a macaron from the pastry plate, and held it before the girl's lips.
"It's a question we'll have to consider sooner or later. Is there a problem with thinking about it ahead of time?"
Is this a feeding game?
Looking at the pastry offered by her lover, Miss Ana blushed, opened her small mouth, and bit into the macaron, chewing it slowly.
She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the macaron in her mouth was a little sweeter than any she had eaten before.
It was delightfully sweet.
"I-Isn't your fiancée Miss Raiden?"
The girl, who had a general understanding of a certain scumbag's situation, asked indistinctly as she chewed on the pastry.
During her medical check-ups, she had learned from Overseer Otto that a certain girl who seemed very skilled at cooking was engaged to Li Zihan.
Just a while ago, she had also learned that a considerable amount of time ago, this guy had received a sword named "Plasma Kagehide" from the Anti-Entropy executive, Raiden Ryoma.
Yes, the tachi that was essentially tied to Raiden Mei, practically a bonus gift that came with her.
Thinking of this, the girl named Ana suddenly drooped.
The Director had already stated clearly before that he would take responsibility for every girl who participated in the Artificial Herrscher Project…
In other words, whichever of the experiment subjects met the Director first was the most likely candidate to become his future legal wife.
And the first one to meet the Director was clearly the candidate for the Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei.
With her father's (tearful) support, she had easily established a relationship with the Director that was infinitely close to an engagement.
I showed up too late.
Thinking this, the girl who had only arrived a little over a month after Miss Mei suddenly felt that the pastry in her mouth wasn't so tasty anymore.
"Our relationship has already reached this stage. It would be wrong not to get married and register it, wouldn't it? I can't just take everything from you and then refuse to acknowledge our relationship."
The young man, who would probably try to travel between different worlds to hold a unique wedding for each of his lovers and get them a marriage certificate, shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
"Besides, since I said I would take responsibility for all the girls, how could I possibly hold only one wedding?"
Also…
If I absolutely must get married in the Honkai world, my first priority would be Seele, not Mei.
Li Zihan thought to himself.
After all, while Miss Mei had always gone along with things by default, she had yet to explicitly state her position…
Black Seele the Heroine, on the other hand, was practically forcing a marriage.
Five hundred years ago in Yae Village, Miss Black Seele had demanded that Li Zihan take responsibility for Seele, move to Siberia for a while as soon as possible, get a residence permit, and then prepare to get married.
They were all people he had to take responsibility for.
Naturally, the one who was pushing the hardest had to be dealt with first.
"Director, I think I understand what you're thinking."
Looking at the young man who was already planning her wedding dress, the girl named Ana's beautiful eyes curved into crescents.
"But—, Director, bigamy is illegal, you know."
"But that's limited to one world, isn't it?"
The young man, who was a bona fide space-time traveler, spoke up, meeting the girl's slightly astonished gaze.
"If I only get married once in any given world, how could that possibly be considered bigamy?"
The young man, who had already promised to team up with Kevin and Su after the experiment to provide fertile ground for the new Fire-Moth to burn, smiled gently.
"Next, I'll be exploring other worlds with a few friends. We have some open spots. Would you like to come with me?"